语言演变--基于形态句法扩散的实例研究

On Language Change:a Case Study of Morphosyntactic Diffusion

本文提出了一个新的假说:形态句法扩散假说。该假说和词汇扩散假说有所不同。词汇扩散假说认为虽然语音演变是突然的,但是这种变化在词汇中的传播是渐进的、逐词进行的。而形态句法扩散假说认为,特定类型的语音演变并不是通过词汇传播的,而是在形态句法结构的内部进行的。语音的演变并不是在各种结构中同时传播,而是在同一音系环境下逐渐从一个结构传播到另一个结构。本文考察了吴语区中的崇明、莘庄和南汇方言中的连读变调情况,以上海话为重点。

This paper proposes a new hypothesis-morphosyntactic diffusion.This process differs from lexical diffusion.According to lexical diffusion,while phonetic change is sudden,its spread through the lexicon is gradual,word-by-word.According to morphosyntactic diffusion,on the other hand,certain types of sound change spread-not through the lexicon-but within morphosyntactic structures.The sound changes are not spread throughout various structures simultaneously,but given identical phonological conditions,change spreads from one structure to another gradually.This study examines Chinese tone sandhi data from the Wu dialects of Chongming,Xinzhuang,and Nanhui,with a focus on Shanghai.